de fideli
by dynamiic
Summary: I had found her half dead, soul barely lingering in the poor little body that lied on the dirt ground in a naked heap. It was pathetic. Hao and Opacho's first meeting.


I had found her half dead, soul barely lingering in the poor little body that lied on the dirt ground in a naked heap.

It was pathetic.

I'd incinerated the vultures that were about to pick their way into her dark flesh, but I honestly didn't know why I'd acted so. Her ebony skin was lacerated in many places, the whiteness of her bones faintly showed from her thinness, and her eyes were void of any life. This small child might as well have been dead even before the vultures came for her.

It was, indeed, pathetic... but that was probably why I saved her.

I looked down at her with discerning eyes, observing the sight of blood soaked dirt and the worn, tattered burlap strewn to the side. The sun beat down on both of us, its harsh rays showing no mercy. The hood of my thin cloak shadowed my face and the rest of my body was clothed to escape the searing sun. The contrast between us was immense.

She looked back up at me with the same dead eyes I'd noticed a few moments before. She struggled to sit up from the dirt ground and then sat motionless on her bottom, never taking her black orbs away from mine and unembarrassed of her nakedness. The empty mind I'd tried to read had begun to fill slowly as she lowered her chin and closed her eyes.

She thought I was going to kill her myself.

I smiled at her thought, amused by the fact that she'd fearfully accepted her expected fate. Without reading her memories, her eyes alone already told me of the hardships this child had endured up until that moment. _It was about time_, her feelings said.

I approached her and knelt down beside her shaking body, taking the canteen hanging from my belt. I flicked open the top and gently took her tiny hand in mine, carefully pouring the fresh water over the lacerations on her arm. Her eyes flashed open in surprised and looked at me questioningly as I took her other hand.

"What's your name?" I asked her, still smiling when I met her gaze.

She still continued to stare at me with wide eyes and didn't answer. Her thoughts were suddenly erratic- confused, surprised, afraid… lost. She didn't know what her name was. Her painful, famine-struck memories were the only things I could read when they surfaced in her mind, but no name.

She shook her head.

"It's alright," I chuckled and took out the bottle of ointment from my pack, "Those pesky birds almost had you; you shouldn't have been out in the open like that."

"Hao," she softly said.

I slightly raised my eyebrows at the sound of my name and stopped applying the healing solution on her cuts. It'd escaped her lips almost as instantaneously as her next thought that entered my own pool of thoughts.

She'd read my mind.

"Hao," she repeated, pursing her lips in a pout.

Her black orbs were suddenly fuller, life apparently slowly returning. I smiled again and reached for the spare piece of cloth I'd tucked under my belt. I gently wrapped it around her shoulders and patted the top of her dry hair.

"Yes, that's my name," I said, "Now, you need one too."

She nodded enthusiastically under my touch, her extreme fatigue and hunger almost nonexistent in that moment.

"How about Ochachiyo?" I said.

Her newly awakened shamanic powers would eventually see the value of that name. But it surprised me- no _amused_ me- how sentimental I was being.

Pathetic. It almost made me sick.

Almost.

"Opacho?" she said, tilting her head. I raised my hand off her head and laughed.

"No, Ochachiyo."

"Ophacho?"

I smiled, having done that cursed expression for what seemed like the hundredth time, but this child was most adorable.

"It's alright, you'll get it soon enough," I said, getting up from my kneel. I gently put my hands around her small body, careful to avoid the worst gashes, and cradled her in my arms.

"But for now let's find you some clothes in the nearest village."

It was her turn to smile.

"Ophacho!"

* * *

_I recently finished reading all of Shaman King and I've seriously grown to love these two with a fiery passion. _

_It's not a ship, but I adore their exclusive relationship so much. I couldn't help but want to write something with them even though it's just a short bit. I absolutely love them both as characters and I hope I kept them in character for the most part haha. Argh, now I really want to write something longer and multi-chaptered with Shaman King. Maybe I'll start something once I finish my other projects. _

_Anyway, feedback is always great no matter how long or short! _

_Thanks for reading~ _


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